Friendship.

Image courtesy of donatodivided.com

My word of the week is friendship.

Friendship, it's a funny old thing. Friends come and they go but your real friends stick around. Sometimes you think someone is a friend and then does something to surprise you, it kicks you in the face and then BAM, before you know it that friendship is clearly not what it seems. You get 'removed' as a friend on Facebook and your mind starts working overtime, have I done something wrong? Have I offended them in some way? This hasn't happened for a while but it when it does it kind of feels weird! Now I'm a grown woman, I'm not going to throw my toys out of the pram but sometimes things hurt and you realise that perhaps friendship wasn't as valued as you once thought it was.

I want to tell you about my friends, the friends I consider as true diamonds. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have a really nice circle of close friends. It's not a huge group but a small and select group and that's the way I like it. The worse thing about this is not living close to any of them, that bit really sucks. 

Image courtesy of hiqpix.com

Without friendship where would we be? Where would I be?! Who would we have to share our highs and lows with? Who would we cry to or moan to? I genuinely don't know what I'd do without being able to pick up the phone and hear a friendly voice at the end. I know that anything I want to talk about, no matter how stupid or crazy will always be met with advice, compassion and sometimes laughter.

I have two friends what I would call my 'best' friends. These are the girls that are my rocks, know me better than anyone else and above all I know that even though we don't see each other as much as I'd like they will always be there for me, as I am for them. They are completely different individuals and that's what I love about them. Our friendships have seen so many ups and downs, happy moments, sad moments and amazing memories, some might say we are more like family.

The first who I shall refer to as K is basically like my sister, I've grown up with her and we've been friends since we were 5 years old. Our friendship has lasted longer than some marriages! She is quite simply a star and I can't imagine my life without her in it. She's stubborn, courageous and very matter of fact and a little crazy which is what makes me love her. She's beautiful inside and out. Ohhh the stories that could be told, there are so many and ones that won't be shared on here (ever!), it would be like breaking the 'best friend code'!.

The second, is L, she has been in my life for a fair few years now too! Some might say we are two peas in a pod, my husband reckons we're more alike than I think, I don't know what she would say about that. She's head strong, opinionated but a softy at the same time (she'll probably hate me saying that!). She says it how it is and I love her for it. Ultimately though she's caring, emotional and passionate. Once she's had a bit of booze her infectious laugh will get everyone cracking up, she's a real firecracker at times. We also have a whole load of stories, that time in Echos Nightclub in Loughborough L ..... yeah that one, you know the one!

Then there's the friends that you're close to but don't necessarily see very often. When you do it's like you've never been apart and can gossip till the cows come home. Take my friend B below, we met a few years ago when she moved in next door. Over a few years we cemented a really great friendship, even borrowing cups of sugar and various other stereotypical neighbour things of each other........ no joke! Sadly she moved away a few months ago, I miss her loads but we are trying to see each other when we can and I know when we do we'll pick up where we left off.

Then there's R, I met her while my husband was at Uni and she started going out with his house mate. We were never really close till a few years ago and we had our boys around the same time, now we message each other every week and make sure we all see each other a few times through the year. She's a gem and we share the love of wine, fizz and all things nice!

Disclaimer: We are NOT naked in this picture!

Then there's Sarah (she won't mind me using her full name as she blogs!). I met Sarah through my husband, we lived with her now husband for a while before getting our own place. I would say we clicked immediately, she talks as much as me and has such a bubbly personality it's hard not to love her! Again we don't see each other very much which is a shame but hopefully we'll pin a date down soon and when we do we'll be gassing away like two little old ladies!

Obviously I have a few more friends than just these girls but I guess the point of this post is that real friends will always be around. No matter what life throws at you friends like these are what you need. Friends that are fickle and shallow and not who you thought they were are not required or welcome in my life. Clearly friendship is valued very differently in my eyes than others. It takes me by surprise that people you once thought you knew, shared years of friendship with are not the people that they were. Things change. Shit happens. I'll get over it but let me be clear that friendship is over.

This is a bit of a random post I realise. This is one of the things that I love about blogging you can take your thoughts and write them down and then everything becomes a little clearer. It's like a huge weight gets lifted off your shoulders and you can breathe again. If any of my friends reading this that aren't included are thinking hmmphh why am I not featured, well I love you all I just couldn't feature you all else I'd be prattling on forever. The friends who have been featured though....don't get used to all the compliments, it only happens once in a blue moon ha!

So I finish this post as I started. Friendship, it's a funny old thing. Friends come and they go but your real friends stick around.

Well done if you got to the end of this post! What I'd like to know is what does friendship mean to you?